Thank You. Sometimes I wonder if I'd have the "intestinal fortitude" to do what they did: I hope so. My grandfather (mother's father) grew up in Poland, and experienced the pogroms, but eventually wound up working, making boots for the Czar's army, just before the Russian Revolution. He lost his wife in one of the pogroms, but his children survived. He arrived in the US in the 1920's, hoping to eventually bring his family across. In the early 1930's he tried to convince his children to come to the US, but they had families of their own, and decided to stay in Poland. Of course, they never made it out.
He lived a hard life, but made a good life for his family, after remarrying in 1933. He married a widdow with 2 sons and 4 daughters, and they had a daughter together, who was my mother.
Like I said, everyone has a history of pain and loss. Most people get on with their lives: Others use it as an excuse.
Mark